A Day of Sweatpants

It is kind of amazing how productive I feel considering I did not change out of my sweatpants all day. Nope, not kidding. Since the sweatpants went on last night after the Christian Union meeting, they have not come off, which I warned Sara was my goal for today.
"What are you doing tomorrow, Callie?"
"Well, I've got big plans. I'm going to stay in my sweatpants for as long as possible." I'm really going places in my life, can't you tell?
In defense of the sweatpants, I did get them in the men's section at Primark, which means they are fluffy and soft and just the right amount of over-sized.

I have to say, one day in can do a world of good. Since arriving in Leeds, I've been out almost every night and running annoying errands every day. Now with the arrival of classes, it's time to buckle down and do some serious sweatpants-wearing. You'd be surprised at what can be accomplished without even leaving the flat:

I crocheted an entire scarf. It's blue and warm and soft and I like it a lot. Thank you Aunt Bev for showing me the double-crochet, I think I'd make you proud.

I got groceries. You order them online here and they're delivered right to your door, so you don't have to trek uphill in the pouring-down rain... really wish we woulda known that our first few weeks here. If this grocery-delivery thing isn't the road to gettin' fat in your pajamas, I don't know what is.

I finally finished decorating my room (with all the stuff that arrived from IKEA!). I hung pictures of my family and my new watercolor of Yorkminster Cathedral, which I bought in York from a guy who had no set prices for his artwork. His sign said "I don't discriminate based on economical status, please pay what you can." I stacked my new boots in the closet, and I organized everything in bins that would make my mom's heart full of joy. Need new decorating inspiration? Just become a poor student. Part of my wall is decorated with cardboard and yarn. I know it sounds a bit janky, but it's actually kind of cute. Creativity spawns from unexpected places –– I'd say mainly being broke.

Speaking of, I applied for three jobs, which meant updating my resume to become a very British CV. I still haven't gotten used to my new mobile number or post code. They stick letters in their zip codes and a zillion numbers in their phone numbers, with no distinguishable area code. Weird! (she says with a snobby face).

I sorted laundry. Did I actually brave the rain to go down to the washing machine? No. That would require putting on actual shoes, so that task will be saved for another day.

I painted my toenails. Not that anyone will see them under all the layers of socks I've been wearing. So basically, I made my room reek of acetone for no reason.

I read extensively for my "Mass and Modernism" module tomorrow. My thoughts on my readings are that Joyce's stream-of-consciousness writing in Ulysses kind of gives you a headache and makes you wonder if your tiny, minute thoughts would ever be interesting enough to publish. (I guess that's kinda what this blog is, though, huh?) The two essays I read have heady titles that made me feel smarter just reading them, and made me ponder the effect of mass culture on intelligentsia and visa versa. I even started writing down possible research questions for my master's thesis. I've gotta get a head-start before procrastination inevitably sets in.

I made a list with my flatmates of all the cleaning tasks we will split between the five of us. Gabriel wrote it all down in a neat list (he has amazing handwriting and he put little bubbles around all our names), and pinned it up in the kitchen. I am having so much fun hanging out with them. I'd like to say my Portuguese is getting better, but all I can remember so far is "Droga!" (Dammit!) Vanessa and Gabriel tried peanut butter for the first time, and I think we've created addicts. But who can blame them? Peanut butter is fantastic.

The afore-mentioned list inspired me to vacuum my own room. If you know how much I detest vacuuming, you will know that this is a big accomplishment in my book.

Watched the first Harry Potter movie. Living in England does give one a huge hankering for all things Harry Potter. That should be a warning label they put on your immigration visa or something.

On top of all that, I wrote birthday cards to my sissies (they'll be 21, woah!), downloaded pictures from my camera, wrote emails, Skyped a friend, danced around in the kitchen to various Disney songs . . .  then, discovered world peace, cured cancer, wrote the next great American novel . . . just an average day.

However, I just want to point out that if one were to be inspired to create world peace, cure cancer, or think up the next big thing, it would be probably be done in nice, big comfy sweatpants.